


Stars and stops

by shimshake



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 01:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3191036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shimshake/pseuds/shimshake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asami works hard on the next big thing for Future Industries. Mostly gen with a sprinkle of Makorrasami. Post-finale drabble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stars and stops

Asami wrinkles her nose and releases a groan of frustration, her hand sliding between her eyebrows up to her forehead. It’s two days into revision six and she’s about ready to crumple up the mechanical sketch and chuck it at the trashcan which, as it currently stands in the corner, is already surrounded by crumpled balls of paper that never made it quite in. The seat creaks as she sits back, and she stares at the grid paper with a slight grimace. Absently, she taps her pencil against the edge of her drawing desk, its tempo at odds with the soft ticking of the clock on the wall.

She huffs as she turns her attention to the window right in front of her, looking at but not really seeing the spirit portal out in the distance. It’s the middle of the day now, and the light the portal provides isn’t quite as spectacular as it is in the evening. The wreckage from years ago has since been over grown with spirit vines, and to newcomers to the city, it’s hard to imagine the magnificence of what once was the heart of Republic City. Asami is hit with a sudden, sad pang of nostalgia for the old skyline and becomes even more frustrated.

With another huff, Asami tosses her pencil onto her desk, sits forward, and hunches over.

“ _Uuuuuggghhhhh_ ,” she says into her palms. She parts her fingers after a moment, looking down at her work from behind her hands. “I need. To finish. This.” Her voice is flat, and there is an edge to her words that also says _But I don’t want to_.

Dammit.

Asami closes her eyes.

Every time she thinks about this project—this stupid, stupid, ambitious, out-of-this-world project—she gets an awful sense of urgency, the same horrible, anxious feeling she gets on the track when someone is just about to pass her. She really, really hopes it’s only paranoia, because when she doesn’t hate it, she actually loves the Secret Project, and would be absolutely heartbroken if someone else beat her to the punch. This is going to be the next big thing for Future Industries, she knows it. It’s the reason why she hasn’t spoken to anyone other than Korra about it. And as much as she loves and trusts Korra, she’d still sworn her to secrecy.

“Promise me, Korra,” she’d insisted, squeezing at the other girl’s hand, their fingers intertwined.

Korra laughed. “Okay okay! I promise!” She kissed her and then paused. “…Not even—”

“What did I just say?”

But the secrecy makes it worse, she’s coming to realize. Korra isn’t a great soundboard, being completely unfamiliar with the science or mechanics of, well, anything. Korra’s usual “Well it sounds cool!” hasn’t been particularly helpful.

Asami still stubbornly refuses to ask any of her engineers for help, though the idea of including one or two is becoming more attractive. Her stomach drops when she imagines the idea getting to Varrick, and she damns him and his unfair level of ingenuity. Last week she’d secretly had a panic attack.

 _I_ am _wound up_ , Asami thinks to herself, remembering how she had locked herself in her office and curled into a ball in the middle of the floor. Asami sighs as she rolls up the grid paper, telling herself that a little break won’t set her back any more than staring blankly into her sketch. The weather looked nice outside. Maybe the sunlight will do her some good.

“Asami!” Korra’s voice comes through muffled by the closed door. Wherever Korra is, Asami can tell she is stomping.

“I’m in here!” Asami calls back as she slides the grid paper into its cylindrical container. Korra has been telling her she needs to relax the past few days, so Asami knows she hasn’t been great at hiding anything. Asami leans the container against the wall and then begins to quickly tidy her desk, stacking papers and placing pens and pencils in a tin can. As the stomping gets louder, Asami catches another, deeper voice mixing with Korra’s. It sounds like—

The door bangs open and Asami jumps.

“Dammit, Korra! Put me down!”

“Heyyy, Sweetie,” Korra says to Asami with a bright smile and a man slung over her left shoulder (“ _Korra!_ ”). Korra takes a quick glance at Asami’s workspace. “Oh perfect, you all done? Come on—” Korra winks “—I brought lunch.”

Korra gives Mako’s ass three hard spanks (“Hey!”) and then turns. “Come on, Grumpy,” she says, shrugging his weight just slightly. “You both work too hard.”

Asami catches Mako’s eye briefly before Korra takes him out of view and smiles. She already feels lighter, laughing as she follows Mako’s protests down the hall and into the bedroom.

For now, she’s more than happy to do lunch for the rest of the afternoon than design moonships.

**Author's Note:**

> HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT OF GOING TO THE STARS, MISS SATO? I am ready for the Avatarverse Space Race. ;)


End file.
